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TOPIC: Mars hopper

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Feb 2 14:57 2011

Mars hoppers	Permalink

Fleet of INL-designed Mars hoppers could swiftly explore other worlds Mars is our next frontier. We'd like to know whether the Red Planet ever hosted its own life forms - and where it might be able to host human explorers. The twin Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity have outlasted their planned three-month lifetime and given us our closest look yet at the Martian surface. But the solar-powered rovers have covered only 21 miles of Martian terrain in their combined 11 years of operation, leaving most of the surface unexplored. Read more __________________

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Nov 17 15:45 2010

Mars hopper	Permalink

Mars 'hopper' may run on nuclear decay and Martian CO2 Nuclear decay-driven machines could gather gases from the atmosphere of Mars, giving future robotic missions leaps of a kilometre, researchers say. A design concept in Proceedings of the Royal Society A outlines an approach to compress CO2 and liquefy it. The liquid would then be heated much as in a standard rocket, expanding violently into a gas to propel exploratory craft great distances. The authors suggest this is a better strategy to see more of the Red Planet. Read more __________________

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